A reporter for the Marion County Record newspaper has filed a federal lawsuit against the Marion police chief over a raid that was conducted on the newspaper’s offices.
Reporter Deb Gruver is arguing that police chief Gideon Cody did not have the right to take her personal phone out of her hand. She is asking for a jury trial and at least 75-thousand dollars in damages, and she says she is standing up for journalists across the country.
Marion police raided the Record offices on August 11th, taking materials from the offices and from the home of its publisher and co-owner, Joan Meyer, who died the next day. The raid drew sharp criticism from news organizations across the country. The computers and cellphones taken in the raid were returned, but a judge ruled this week that law enforcement agencies must destroy all electronic copies that were made of the newspaper’s files.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has been looking into the raid and the investigation by Marion police, but there has been no word on any further actions.
